Amid today's market slump - the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 are both down more than 1% - two mid-cap stocks are bucking the trend after trading updates, Debenhams and Greene King.

Debenhams has climbed 0.5 to 53.5p after reporting an 8.9% rise in transaction value for the 42 weeks to 19 June. But this figure would have been 1.1% if not for the contribution of Magasin du Nord, the Danish department store group bought during the first half. Like for like sales slipped 0.4% during the period, as the company moved to increase margins by increasing the amount of space devoted to own bought ranges rather than concessions. Chief executive Rob Templeman said:

We are pleased with the performance of the business so far this year. 2010 has been a year of change for Debenhams and a year when we will judge the performance of the business on profit improvement.

We remain cautious about the strength of the overall retail market and the level of consumer confidence. However we believe our focus on self-help levers will help to mitigate the macro-economic pressures.

The update has prompted a number of buy notes from analysts, with Georgina Johanan at Collins Stewart saying:

Balance sheet concerns are fading, however, this is not reflected in the market valuation. Debenhams is trading on a 2011 PE of 5.8 times. Our price target of 90p puts Debenhams broadly in-line with the sector...this is a good entry point for the shares.

Caroline Gulliver at Execution Noble, said:

Debenhams' trading update was broadly positive, with weaker sales offset by better gross margin performance. The calendar 2011 PE of less than 6 times reflects concerns that Debenhams is highly operationally geared and will suffer going into another period of weak consumer confidence. Debenhams is not as operationally geared as it used to be, and is no more geared to like for like or gross margin than Marks & Spencer.

As for Greene King, the pubs group has added 6.7p to 399p after it reported a 3.8% rise in full year profits to £118.5m and said it had traded strongly in the first eight weeks of the new year. It said it expected another successful year despite challenging trading conditions following the emergency budget.

The company also announced plans to accelerate the growth of its branded, food-led managed estates and reduce the number of tenanted businesses. It wants to move from 888 managed outlets to 1,100 in three to five years, and reduce its UK tenanted estate from 1,584 to around 1,200.

Despite their sphinx-like silence, there was a plan to sell Sugars, after all. And for considerably more than we dared to expect. The deal takes Tate out of sugar refining completely, looks earnings neutral in 2011 and means that group net debt should have been halved inside two years. The sale of Golden Syrup to Americans will catch the headlines, but this is no Cadbury. We will be reviewing our forecasts and target price but are happy to be buyers of the shares this morning.